Stocks slide after sell-off in Asia

It had been a great week. The market was doing better then expected. OPC is still on the upward mode. It will be $ 4 in no time. I am optimistic about this stock. The overall market is on the slide. This will give opportunity for the investors who were waiting in the side lines. I am hoping that TPUT will rise in one month. I am hoping for good things from “C”, “RF”, “Dow” and “F”

- NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market was poised to end August with a sharp drop as worries about the world economy reappeared. Major stock indicators fell at least 1 percent in early afternoon trading Monday after a 6.7 percent plunge in China's main index that also prompted selling in other countries. The decline in stocks was broad, but the biggest losses were among energy and material companies as prices for commodities like crude and copper plummeted. The selling of Chinese shares has been fed by concerns over a tightening in bank lending that could hurt that country's economy. China, which has continued to grow despite the global recession, is a major consumer of U.S. exports including commodities. Chinese stockpiling this year of such goods as copper and soy have helped drive up commodities prices.

- Investors Wonder Whether Profits Based on Cost Cutting Can Long Endure as stock investors turn their focus to earnings prospects for the second half and 2010, they are zeroing in on one of the market's biggest challenges: lackluster corporate revenue. The market barreled ahead this summer and is hovering near its high for the year, fueled in large part by stronger than-expected second-quarter earnings. But a significant driver of the good news was cost cutting. Many companies posted disappointing sales.

- CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- PetroChina Co., Asia's largest oil and gas company, is making a $1.7 billion investment in the Canadian oil sands. Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. said Monday that PetroChina is buying a 60 percent working interest in its Mackay River and Dover oil sands projects in northeastern Alberta. Bill Gallacher, chairman of privately held Athabasca, said it is hard to finance oil sands developments in the traditional equity markets. He said a joint venture with one of the world's largest oil companies will ensure the two projects are completed on time. "Oil sands projects are very capital-intensive, long-term investments and difficult to fully finance in the traditional equity market," Gallacher said in a statement. He said striking strategic joint venture arrangements with PetroChina "can ensure that the MacKay River and Dover projects will be developed in timely manner, which is excellent news for Alberta and the rest of Canada."

- NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices fell nearly 4 percent to below $70 a barrel Monday as a steep drop in China's stock market raised doubts about the strength of the U.S. and global economic recovery. Benchmark crude for October delivery lost $2.78 to settle at $69.96 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first time oil has ended a trading day below $70 in about two weeks. "It's just a market that doesn't want to stray too far from $70 a barrel," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates. "It looks like we're probably going to finish this month about where we started, and about where we started the summer." China raised some red flags last week as government officials seemed to suggest they would cut back on bank lending in coming months, essentially removing one of the stimuli they have added to the Chinese economy, said PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn. The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 6.7 percent on Monday, adding to a nearly 3 percent drop on Friday, on concerns of a tightening in bank lending.

- GENEVA (AP) -- American goods will face around $295 million in annual sanctions as a result of the United States' failure to eliminate illegal subsidies to U.S. cotton growers, the World Trade Organization ruled Monday. The result was disappointing for Brazil, which has won a series of rulings against the U.S. over the last seven years. The South American country sought to target American goods and drug patents for $2.5 billion worth of economic retaliation. The WTO ruled the sanctions should vary depending on U.S. payments each year. Arbitrators used 2006 as a base year for the ruling, and said U.S. payments would have to increase significantly for Brazil to be allowed to punish American drug patents. "The cumulated amount of countermeasures to which Brazil is entitled to is $294.7 million," the WTO said in a two-part ruling totaling 269. Washington argued that the award should not exceed $30 million. "While we remain disappointed with the outcome of this dispute, we are pleased that the arbitrators awarded Brazil far below the amount of countermeasures it asked for," said Carol Guthrie, spokeswoman for U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

- LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Walt Disney Co. is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E. Under the deal, which was announced Monday and is expected to close by the end of the year, Disney will acquire the rights to 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee. Disney CEO Robert Iger said Marvel's comic books, TV shows, movies and video games amounted to "a treasure trove of content." Iger said the deal would bring benefits like the ones Disney got from buying "Toy Story" creator Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in stock in 2006.

- Brace yourselves. Only a year after the housing and credit bubble officially burst with the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, a new "bubble of mammoth proportions" is starting to grow, says James Altucher, managing partner, Formula Capital. Bubble 3.0 (Internet and housing being bubbles 1.0 and 2.0, respectively), comes thanks to the stimulus bill. "We have a trillion dollars coming. Only 10% of it's been spent. Interest rates are near zero." Altucher's advice: follow the stimulus dollars and invest in the infrastructure stocks that are rebuilding America.
Topping his 'buy' list:
Vulcan materials
Astec Inudstries
Lindsay Corporation
Nucor Steel
Titanium Metals (Disclosure: Altucher owns Titanium Metals)
But what about the growing government debt that funds these projects?
Altucher isn't concerned. "The U.S. debt is not really that bad relative to other industrial countries." In fact, borrowing money for massive government works projects is "prudent financial management," Altucher says. "Better to borrow now when interest rates are cheap."

Oil near $75 per barrel on economic optimism

We are looking healthy in the economic side of things. I was expecting a pull back this morning, instead DOW gained quite a few points this morning. AIG and FNM are still on the rise, makes you wonder how wrong you are predicting this market. Some one is manipulating the market. It does not make any sense if you look at the whole market. It was a good week and weekend overall. I was pleased to get some rest.
I sold all my MGM and C shares. I made a few dollars. I just Hope that I am right that the market will pull back this week and I
will be able to get in cheap next week. OIL prices are at a record price this morning for the year but I am not too optimistic that it will stay there or rise. It will come down again.


- HOUSTON (AP) -- Oil prices approached $75 a barrel Monday for the first time in 10 months amid growing optimism that the world's economies are on the mend. Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 73 cents to $74.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil last topped $75 in October. Natural gas rebounded strongly from new seven-year lows Monday, though prices remained well below $3 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Expectations that demand for energy will grow were spurred Friday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the U.S. economy is reviving. Bernanke's remarks and signs of improvement in the U.S. housing market sent stock markets higher, and that carried over into the new week. Even before Bernanke spoke, however, prices had already begun to rise on a large and unexpected drawdown in U.S. oil supplies last week.
Equities appeared to follow energy prices, which took off midweek. Asian and European markets were higher Monday, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose moderately in early trading.

- EDINBURGH, Scotland – Scotland's justice minister on Monday doggedly defended his much-criticized decision to free the Lockerbie bomber but said Libya had broken a promise by giving the convicted terrorist a hero's welcome. Britain, meanwhile, scrapped a trade visit to Libya by Prince Andrew amid controversy over the release of convicted bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and Scottish lawmakers came back from summer vacation a week early to debate the issue. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said the warm homecoming welcome for al-Megrahi breached assurances from Libyan authorities that "any return would be dealt with in a low-key and sensitive fashion." "It is a matter of great regret that Mr. (al-) Megrahi was received in such an inappropriate manner," MacAskill told the Scottish parliament. "It showed no compassion or sensitivity to the families of the 270 victims of Lockerbie."

- KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The first woman in Muslim-majority Malaysia to face caning for drinking beer was reprieved Monday because of the holy month of Ramadan. Her family said she would rather get the thrashing with a rattan cane now and put the ordeal behind her. Islamic officials had taken Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, into custody and were driving her to a women's prison for the caning when they abruptly turned around and sent her back to her family home in northern Malaysia. "She feels like a football being kicked around," Kartika's father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib, told The Associated Press. "She's so exhausted and unhappy with the delay. She would prefer to just receive the six strokes and have everything finished."

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wall Street may have discovered a way out from under the bad debt and risky mortgages that have clogged the financial markets. The would-be solution probably sounds familiar: It's a lot like what got banks in trouble in the first place. In recent months investment banks have been repackaging old mortgage securities and offering to sell them as new products, a plan that's nearly identical to the complicated investment packages at the heart of the market's collapse. "There is a little bit of deja vu in this," said Arizona State University economics professor Herbert Kaufman. But Kaufman said the strategy could help solve one of the lingering problems of the financial meltdown: What to do about hundreds of billions of dollars in mortgages that are still choking the system and making bankers reluctant to make new loans.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wall Street may have discovered a way out from under the bad debt and risky mortgages that have clogged the financial markets. The would-be solution probably sounds familiar: It's a lot like what got banks in trouble in the first place. In recent months investment banks have been repackaging old mortgage securities and offering to sell them as new products, a plan that's nearly identical to the complicated investment packages at the heart of the market's collapse. "There is a little bit of deja vu in this," said Arizona State University economics professor Herbert Kaufman. But Kaufman said the strategy could help solve one of the lingering problems of the financial meltdown: What to do about hundreds of billions of dollars in mortgages that are still choking the system and making bankers reluctant to make new loans.

- Kabul, Afghanistan – The top two candidates in Afghanistan's presidential race both claimed to be on their way to victory after Thursday's vote. Meanwhile, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has received roughly 150 official allegations of election fraud and expects a significantly larger number to arrive in the coming days. With preliminary vote-count results days away, each camp is working to influence public perceptions and gather legal ammunition for appealing a possible loss.

It looks like a start of a bad week

I was on holidays last week. It was a good week.
Steve and Mai was a blast to spend time with.
We did not get a lot of sleep but it was a good few days off to reenergize.
The market looks very unsure this morning.
We might be heading toward a down slop again.
I just hope that we don’t slide further.
Maybe it’s not a bad time to load up on
“C”, “CEMJQ”, “F”, “DOW”


- NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors' rising fears about consumer spending is turning stocks into a risky investment again. Stocks plunged and Treasury prices soared Monday as investors around the world feared that consumers are too anxious to lift the economy into recovery. The losses on stock exchanges extended the heavy selling that began Friday with a disappointing reading on consumer confidence. And bond investors, once again searching for a safe investment, bought heavily into Treasuries’. The Dow Jones industrials fell 165 points, while overseas, the Shanghai stock market tumbled almost 6 percent and the major indexes in Europe fell more than 1.5 percent.

- NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell over 3 percent to below $66 a barrel on Monday, its lowest this month, as investors became more cautious about the pace of global economic recovery and a potential revival in energy demand. U.S. equities fell broadly, pressured by persistent concern for the global economy, with data from Japan, the third largest oil consumer, showing that economic recovery may be shaky. (^N - News)
U.S. crude oil futures for September fell $2.14 to $65.37 a barrel by 11:19 a.m. EDT, after earlier hitting $65.23, the lowest since July 31. Brent crude for October lost $2.17 to $69.27.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Foreign demand for long-term U.S. financial assets rebounded in June even though China and Russia trimmed their holdings. The Treasury Department said Monday that foreigners purchased $90.7 billion more in long-term U.S. securities than they sold in June. That's a significant rebound from May when they sold $19.4 billion more than they purchased. "There is little evidence in recent (Treasury) reports to suggest that foreign investors are growing weary of buying U.S. securities," Jay Bryson, a global economist at Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in a note to clients. The increased appetite for Treasury securities was partly because their yields rose in early June, he added.

- Legendary investor Jim Rogers says he can't wait for the International Monetary Fund to sell some of its gold holdings. Should that cause the price of gold to dip, Rogers says he will buy some more. In fact, Rogers says he buys gold whenever he thinks about it. "If it goes down I'll buy some more, and if it goes up I'll buy some more," Rogers said in a CNBC interview. "I periodically buy some gold. I don't have a method to it. I just buy it." The IMF is the world's third largest owner of gold reserves. The number-one holder of gold is the United States, followed by Deutsche Bundesbank.

- TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's economy climbed out of yearlong recession in the second quarter, the government said Monday, expanding 3.7 percent at an annual pace and joining Germany, France and other regions that appear to be emerging from the global financial crisis. But economists and politicians sounded cautious, noting that the main driver of growth was exports and that domestic consumer spending remained fragile amid plunging incomes and rising unemployment. The recovery in the April-June quarter was driven by robust demand for cars, video recorders and other electronics goods, according to government data. Shipments to China and other emerging markets were particularly strong, although exports to the U.S. and Europe also showed modest recoveries. Exports grew 6.3 percent from the previous quarter, the highest rate in seven years.

Are we on the road to recovery?

It was a long weekend and eventful. We had enjoyed this weekend.
I am looking forward to the next week. It was a great week and month for DOW.
Records were broken and it looks like that we are on right track.
The market looks bright early. I just hope that we continue to do well. I am still optimistic about TPUT, OPC and SIRI. I know it has to fly at some point.

Things are still slow in the OILSANDS. I hope that we see some activities during the 4th quarter. We need it. There are a lot of speculations over Voyager and Fort Hills project.
We just need some positive news.

- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans opened their wallets and pocketbooks a bit more in June, increasing their spending for the second straight month while saving less, even as incomes fell sharply. Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for about 70 percent of total economic activity. Many economists warned that despite the slight increase in June, falling wages and rising unemployment likely will keep spending sluggish for the rest of this year. Still, the housing market continued to show signs of life as pending U.S. home sales rose in June for the fifth straight month, according to the National Association of Realtors. The group's pending home sales index rose more than expected to 94.6, from an upwardly revised reading of 91.3 in May. The last time there were five straight monthly gains was July 2003.

- MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Months after its first offers were rejected, PepsiCo Inc. said Tuesday it plans to buy its two biggest bottlers, Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, in deals worth a total of $7.8 billion. The world's second-biggest drink maker said Tuesday the deals will allow it to respond more quickly to a changing market as consumers seek out healthier options like juices and teas, rather than soft drinks. It will also allow the company, whose soft drink sales have been slipping, to control costs and more tightly manage its business.
PepsiCo, which makes brands like Pepsi and Gatorade, will pay $36.50 per share for the shares it does not own of Somers, New York-based Pepsi Bottling Group and $28.50 per share for the shares it does not own of Minneapolis-based PepsiAmericas.

- NEW YORK, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI - News) announced today that Audi will offer its customers an introductory three-month trial offer of the "SIRIUS Everything" package upon the purchase of all SIRIUS-equipped certified pre-owned Audi vehicles sold in the U.S.
(Logo: http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AqcddmDtFJlXfQra.OCcTeGxcq9_;_ylu=X3oDMTE2NDIwaDcxBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNuZXdzQXJ0Qm9keQRzbGsDaHR0cHd3d25ld3Nj/SIG=11ti2hcfu/**http:/www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080819/NYTU044LOGO)
Audi will continue to offer SIRIUS as standard equipment on key models sold in the U.S., including the A3, A4, A5, A6, A8 and R8 models as well as the Audi Q7 and Q5 models. "SIRIUS is all about delivering the best in-class entertainment service that our customers expect to find in Audi vehicles," said Mark Del Rosso, Chief Operating Officer, Audi of America. "The Audi experience has always been about more than just driving, and that's why we know our customers want SIRIUS' sports, news, talk and 100% commercial-free music in their certified pre-owned Audi vehicles."

- WASHINGTON – Pending U.S. home sales rose in June for the fifth straight month, another encouraging sign of life for the embattled U.S. housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. For June, the Realtors group said its pending home sales index rose 3.6 percent to 94.6, from an upwardly revised reading of 91.3 in May. The last time there were five consecutive monthly gains was July 2003. The results were far better than analysts expected. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index to come in at 91.2. The report tracks signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes and is considered a barometer for future home sales. Typically there is a one- to two- month lag between a sales contract and a completed deal.

- Oil prices fell below $71 a barrel Tuesday, as investors booked profits after a big rally fueled by signs of economic recovery in the U.S. By midday in Europe, benchmark crude for September delivery was down 92 cents to $70.66 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session, the contract fell as low as $70.28. On Monday, the contract rose $2.13 to settle at $71.58. "Oil has rallied to levels seen in June, before the sharp decline of nearly 16 percent," said analysts at Sucden Financial in London. "Given continuing poor oil fundamentals, current high prices seem difficult to sustain." A report Monday from the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said U.S. manufacturing activity should increase next month for the first time since January 2008. Also, the Commerce Department said construction spending rose in June.